Valve stem cap lock



April 16, 1935. F. N. GASDORF VALVE STEM CAP LOCK.

Filed Dec. 6, 1954 FI/M'kadorf This inventionorelates -toautomobiletirevalves means for housing I "and .pertainsparticularly toand'sshielding the same. V, g a .cThe primary object ofthetpresentinvention 'istoprovide:aldeviceiby which the valvestem Leap of amctorvehicle tire valve may be enclosed, and secured in such a wayptothe.enclosingbody that the cap will belefie'ctively'shielded or protectedagainst tampering by unauthorized persons. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a tire valve stem capsecuring means in which a sleeve encasesthe valve stem and the cap onthe stem is engaged by a gripping element within the sleeve so that thesleeve cannot be removed from the stem without releasing the grippingelement, the manipulation of which is accomplished by the use of a key.The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding,however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformitywith the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so longas such changes or modifications mark 'no material departure from thesalient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing: v Figure 1 is a viewin longitudinal section of thedevice embodying the present invention, showing the same applied to avalve stem.

Figure 2'isa sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1. j 7 fFigure 3 is a sectional view taken on the'line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designatecorresponding parts throughout the views, the numeral. I designates amotor vehicle tire valve stem of the usual character which is threadedin the usual manner may pass the valve element which the stem' Thesecaps 3 as constructed in the encases. latest types of valves areprovided with ball heads or tips, as indicated at 4. The presentinvention comprises a relatively long cylinder body 5 which isinteriorly threaded at one end about whenxthe cylinder or sleevessteminthexmannen illustratedtg 1151.:

. The Tuppertendrofr; the. sleeve :5 encases afl reiciprocabie body-,1which'iis maintained. against mentvwithrgthe threadedportiomohthexstelh. placed over the removal from; the; sleeveby the.slightly; h turned V zflanga arand-wvlfiche has' itsmnter. end-faceprovided with suitable apertures to receive the prongs 9 of a key memberl0. This body lat its inner end is formed to. provide the two cam" facesII which converge at the central part of the sleeve 5 in the mannerillustrated, forming substantially a V. I r

Extending transversely of the sleeve 5 beneath the convergent portionsof the cam surfaces l,l is a pin l2 and upon this pin are placed insideure 3, and the under faces of the same are rounded, as illustrated, sothat the ball head 5 of the cap 3 may be readily. forced uptherebetween.

The. edges l6 of the jaws are relatively sharp so that when they cometogether beneath the head 1 4, they will securely grip it and thusprevent the head slipping back from between them in the event that'anunauthorized person attempted to unscrew the sleeve from the stem.

The fingers M are maintained in upwardly convergent relation, asillustrated in'Figure 1, by a spring I! which connects them together'inthe manner illustrated. When these fingers are in this convergentrelation, the body I is in the raised position and the'jaws are togetherin the position which they assume when gripping the top' 4 of the cap.The spring thus serves to hold the jaws in gripping position.

p The pin l 2 may have mounted thereon suitable spacing sleeves I 8disposed at opposite sides of-the armsl3 to maintain the latter inposition in the center of the sleeve '15. In the use of the presentdevice,'the sleeve 5'is threaded down upon the valve'stem l untilthe'ball top or head 4 of the cap is forced between the jaws into theposition 1 in which it is illustrated in Figure 1. The jaws undertheurge of the spring I! will thus maintain Ia firm grip upon the cap sothat the removal of the sleeve cannot be effected without themanipulation of the member 1 which constitutes a spreader member forthefingers l4. -When the cap is to be released so that thesleeve may beremoved, the key/l0 is engaged with the body '1 ep a.

and the latter forced downwardly to the position indicated by dottedlines so as to spread the fingers I4 and open the jaws-to the positionsin which they are shown in dotted outline. While holding the key andspreader member 1 down, the sleeve 5 can then be rotated to unscrew itfrom the stem l and the housing sleeve removed.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that with the deviceembodying the present invention; the tire valve stem cap willbeeffectively protected Irom tampering by unauthorized persons and will inaddition be shielded from injury.

What is claimed is:

1. Securing means for the, cap oi a valve stem, comprising a bodyadapted'to receive" and threadably engage the stern gripping means Icarried within the body for engagingthe cap upon the stem, and means forreleasing I the gripping means to permit the removal of the; body.-- I

' 3. Securing meansfor the capot atirevalve stem, comprising a sleevethreaded to receive said stem in one end, an element shiftably mountedin the other end of the sleeve for movement in a 1ongitudinal directiontherein, a pair of pivotally mounted jaws withinthe sleeve arranged toengage said cap when'the latter hasbeen threaded to a predeterminedposition on the stem, means normally urging said jaws into grippingrelation, and means forming 'a part of said longitudinally shiftablebodyto efiect the relative shifting of the jaws to non-grippingjposition.

4. Securing means for the cap of a tire valve 1 stem, comprising asleeve interiorly threaded in one end to receive and engage said stem, apair of jaw members pivotally mounted within the sleeve in a position toengage said cap therebetween when the sleeve has been threaded to apredetermined position on the stern, a finger carried by eachof saidjaws, a. spring connecting said fingers to normally urge the same in onedirection and to move the 'jaws'int'ofgripping relation, a

bo'dyiin the other end ofthe' sleeve'and adapted to move longitudinallytherein, and a pair of cammingsurfaces forming a part of said body andarranged when the body is shifted in one direction to separate saidfingers. against the action of said spring toopen said jaws. v

' .FRANK LN; GASDORF.

